Importance of Learning to Grow in your Marketing Career.

No matter how far you are in your marketing career, learning always plays a vital role in staying relevant and helping you grow.

I have been grateful to work within a business that truly supports learning, from providing you with books, to support around training courses. If you are not this lucky there are still several things you can do, to continue to grow within your marketing career. This covers both those who have started and those who have been in marketing roles for several years.

You will and should never get to a point in your career, where there is not something you can learn.

For this post I will be breaking it down into 3 main areas;

1. Mentors
2. Books
3. Online Courses

Learning from the experiences of others

Having a mentor or someone who has been in your role for several years, is one of the best ways to learn and grow in your marketing career. I have personally found this especially true both when starting within my career and when starting a new role within a new company.

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A mentor is someone who can guide you, who will metaphorically take you under their wing. This is the time to soak up as much information and knowledge as possible.

The best way to do this? It can all come down to personal preference, however, to get value from what you have learned, more often or not you need to put it into practice. If you have a mentor, a boss, or a colleague within the marketing department who you can learn from, take what they have taught you and start putting it into practice.

When I was fresh into the marketing scene, I was grateful to have a boss, who took the time to explain and guide me through how he had approached different marketing activities, collateral, and campaigns. For the first few months, I spent my time listening and taking in as much information as possible. What I learned was by acting on what I had learned each day, those lessons stuck with me more.

This was certainly a change from all those years back in school, where I would memorize the information needed for a test, then come a few months down the line I would not have been able to tell you what I had learned.

There is probably a book on that

Sadly throughout your career, you may not be lucky to have a great mentor or boss who pushes you to learn more and one that helps you grow in your career. Fret not, as books can be your new mentor.

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There are countless, if not an almost endless amount of great marketing books out there to learn from. I would go as far as to say if you are not spending the time soaking up as much knowledge from a range of experts across our field, you are wasting your time.

However simply reading a range of marketing books from the likes of Seth Godin to Joe Pulizzi, will not make you a great marketer, you need to act on what you have learned.

This can be done in several different ways, from something as simple as speaking to other members of your team about what you have just learned, from what you read. If you read a book around social media marketing and you learn about creating content more focused on your audience, then start sharing content more tailored for your audience, and see what you learn through acting.

Here are just a few books I would recommend to anyone in a marketing role;

1. This is Marketing by Seth Godin
2. The Dip by Seth Godin
3. The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier
4. The Art and Business of Online Writing
5. Digital Marketing by Dave Chaffey
6. Marketing Rebellion by Mark Schaefer
7. Contagious: Why things catch on by Jonah Berger
8. Crushing it by Gary Vaynerchuk

Learning at your own pace

Online courses are another great way of staying up to date with new marketing trends and providing more knowledge around specific fields you are not as familiar with.

There are plenty of courses out there depending on the areas you are looking to learn more about, and those that can cater to any budget.

Here are a few different platforms and courses I would recommend looking into;

1. HubSpot’s Free Courses
2. LinkedIn Learning Courses (free one-month trial available)
3. CIM Marketing Courses (prices are fairly high, but would highly recommend looking into, especially if your business can support you)

Every day is a chance to learn something new

No matter the stage in your marketing career, learning is a vital pillar in helping you be the best marketer you can be. Let me know if you would be interested in reading a more in-depth look into any of the areas covered.